A rig fell over onto the tundra as it was on its way to drill in ConocoPhillips’ winter exploration program. Opponents of the plan warned it was rushed and lacked adequate environmental protections.
When ConocoPhillips won federal approval last year to explore for oil in the Alaskan Arctic, environmental groups warned the proposal was rushed through without adequate protections. Last week, an oil rig toppled onto the tundra as it was on its way to drill for that effort, igniting a fire and spilling diesel fuel onto the snow-covered land.
Now, five days after the incident, the weather is so severe that no crew is on site to respond to the spill or assess the scope of any damage, said Kimberley Maher, state on-scene coordinator for Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
“We are working together to put the plans in place as soon as there is a weather window to continue cleanup efforts,” Maher said.
The exploration program is pushing industrial activity deeper into the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, which has some of the largest wilderness areas in the United States, and into prime hunting and subsistence grounds used by Iñupiat residents of the nearby village of Nuiqsut.